Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani is a source of emulation across the Shi’ite world
Recently, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq’s highest Shi’ite authority, urged voters to turn out for that country’s March 7 parliamentary elections. He warned that that failure to do so would “allow some to achieve illegitimate goals.”
To be sure, Sistani is no politician, though he is not apolitical, either. He doesn’t issue political or legal orders. He doesn’t direct Iraq’s policies on ethnic issues, oil exploitation, foreign relations, political parties, media, courts, or security. He just gives advice from his home in Al-Najaf.
Still, many in Iraq’s majority Shi’ite community follow him — not because he is an official “supreme leader” like Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and not because the Iraqi government requires the people to either follow him or face punishment, as in Iran. They follow Sistani because Iraqi Shi’a respect him as a religious authority, an influential marja, or marja-i taqlid (source of emulation).
Although it is difficult for even Sunni Muslims — let alone non-Muslims — to understand it, in the Shi’ite confession it is extremely important to have and follow a marja. Marjas provide advice and even make decisions when you are in doubt on religious, social, and even political questions. Marjas are recognized and respected ayatollahs, usually grand ayatollahs, who are qualified and accepted by the public to make decisions within the framework of Islamic rules and traditions.
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